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ILLEGAL LOGGING-Influential people
ILLEGAL LOGGING Bangkok Post
Influential people behind the illegal
border business
Money and power are the name of the
game
Illegal logging involves powerful
people. It is big business in
which the operators are
protected by politicians and
men in uniform - primarily the
military.
The National Security Council
lists logging as one of major
border businesses. But it would
not survive if it were not for the
links between minority forces,
politicians, local administrators
and local military units.
"In the logging business, money
and power are the name of the
game," said Pongpol
Adireksarn, the agriculture and
cooperatives minister.
The House of Representatives
has attacked these "irregular"
relations several times.
Suchart Tancharoen, the former
deputy interior minister in the
Banharn Silpa-archa
government, was censured for
his alleged involvement in
logging by minority groups
along the Thai Burmese border.
Mr Suchart, now a Thai Party
MP for Chachoengsao, was
said to have jointly invested in a
logging business with Zaw Ma
Khine, a Burmese
businesswoman with close ties
with Burma's military rulers.
Former premier Mr Banharn
himself was also accused of
taking bribes from log traders to
open temporary checkpoints to
allow log imports on the
Thai-Cambodian border.
And ex-premier Chavalit
Yongchaiyudh faced similar
accusations when he assumed
the premiership.
Logging along the
Thai-Burmese border from the
northern province of Tak up to
Mae Hong Son further north has
been under the control of the
rebel Karen National Union,
Karenni National Progressive
Liberation Front and Khun Sa,
the drug warlord of the Mong
Tai Army who surrendered to
Rangoon.
Funding comes mainly from
Thai investors including
Sakabee Co, Thai Veneer
Industry 999 Co, SPA Richwood
Co, Korean Veterans Welfare
Co, Polpana Co, B and F
Goodrich Co, STB Co and
Boonsawat and Company Co.
Some of these firms hold
logging concessions in Burma
while some are sub-contractors
hired by the concessionnaires
to build roads into the jungles,
fell trees and remove logs from
the forests.
Logs shipped in by the
concessionnaires hold
certificates of origin approved
by both the Thai and Burmese
governments.
A major logging operator in Mae
Hong Son described the
business as "dirty, mysterious
and tricky".
This operator said she was
double-crossed by other log
traders who made false reports
to authorities that her
certificates of origin were fake.
She insisted she had obtained
them through official channels.
It took her almost one year for
her application to be approved
by the foreign and interior
ministries and agencies
concerned in Burma.
Logging in Burma required huge
investments from the start.
Roads had to be cut into
concessioned areas and
workers risked being attacked
by rebel forces or suffering from
malaria. Payments for the logs
had to be made in cash and
food and other necessities had
to be supplied to both the
minority forces and Burmese
soldiers.
These did not involve extra
costs - kickbacks paid to
authorities in exchange for their
help in facilitating logging
operations.
The logging operator said rivals
had several times relied on the
influence of their supporters to
delay imports by her company
and sought to buy her logs
directly from the rebels.
Betrayal, she said, was often
paid back by "death".
The operator, however, denied
loggers had started to cut trees
in Thailand's forest reserves.
She insisted the logs came
from Burma.
"If we don't cut the trees there,
then other countries will," she
said.
Her business, she claimed,
contributed a lot to society. The
firm paid almost 100 million
baht in tax annually and
provided financial support to
schools in border areas.
But she admitted that forests
could not be destroyed in large
scale without support from
powerful people.
The government should tighten
logging regulations to help
create fair competition.
Kriangkrai Vanachayangkul,
owner of Vanakarn Sawmill in
Mae Hong Son, who was
arrested and his business shut
down for allegedly using fake
certificates of origin when
importing logs, believed he had
been double-crossed.
Mr Kriangkrai finally won his
case, which cost him more than
10 million baht.
Before the charge was brought,
Mr Kriangkrai said an influential
logging trader had asked to buy
his sawmill. He refused. The
businessman then asked to rent
it. He refused again and then
received a death threat.
Mr Kriangkrai used to log in
concessioned areas in Mae
Hong Son but turned to buy logs
from Burma after the closure of
forests in the country.
He admitted, however, that the
logs shipped in through Mae
Sariang district in Mae Hong
Son could possibly be cut
illegally in Thailand, then sent to
Burma for sealing, and later
brought back to Thailand.
Mr Kriangkrai also admitted that
logging operators could not run
businesses without the support
and influence of politicians and
powerful military officers.
Major logging companies
holding concessions in Burma
all had politicians and military
generals as shareholders.
It seemed that "ordinary" people
could not own logging firms.
Logging in border areas would
be difficult and dangerous
without assistance from the
military.
Log imports from Burma
through Mae Hong Son were
made possible by the former
Chavalit government which
agreed to open five border
passes in Ban Huay Pueng, Ban
Nam Piang Din, Ban Huay Ton
Noon, Ban Sao Hin and Ban
Mae Sam Laeb.
The opening was meant to
allow three big companies to
bring in 10,000 logs. However,
there was also an influx of
illegally-cut logs from Burma,
prompting that country to send a
protest to Thailand.
A source said Burma alleged
that eight Thai firms had
falsified certificates of origin.
The complaint, however, was
ignored by Thai authorities
because government insiders
had connections with logging
operators.
Burma then retaliated by closing
border checkpoints in Mae Sai,
Chiang Rai, and Mae Sot, Tak.
That caused cross-border trade
to drop by one billion baht.
A meeting of Karen rebel
leaders chaired by Gen Bo Mya
early last year discussed the
problem of illegally-cut logs in
Thailand.
Thai loggers were also said to
have paid a large sum of money
to cut trees in areas held by
Khun Sa and the Kaya minority.
The source said it was
impossible to break the links
between businesses and
influential politicians.
Illegal logging in Salween
National Park was exposed only
because new power groups
close to the new government
wanted to take control of the
business, said the source.